Earth Day Around the Globe

Earth Day 2012 is only 46 days away. As always, Earth Day Network organizers are hard at work so we can Mobilize the Earth™ on April 22nd. Check out the weekly international highlights to see what is going on around the world.

In the South America, Project SERES (Supporting Ecological Resilience and Environmental Sustainability) is working to create sustainable communities in Guatemala by educating and empowering people to become leaders of positive change. The organization will be hosting a month-long series of educational events across Guatemala entitled “Between the Water and the Earth,” which will include workshops on organic farming, composting, waste treatment, and various other topics. The series will culminate on Earth Day with a sustainability fair in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, as well as the official opening of the city’s new “Urban Sustainability House.”

In Europe and Asia, Earth Day events are still going strong. The Plant a Tree Today (PATT) Foundation is a UK-registered charity working in Thailand that seeks to combat deforestation and climate change. Working with local citizens in Asia, the Foundation has planted hundreds of thousands of trees and is active in environmental education, providing funding for development projects in rural communities as well as setting up tree nurseries at schools. This year for Earth Day, the Foundation is having a Family Tree Planting Day at its nursery site in Khao Yai, Thailand, bringing together children and adults as they help to reforest the Earth.

In Africa, Earth Day Network’s new partner, the 4-H Million Trees Project, has committed to planting 1 million trees in different Kenyan villages as part of A Billion Act of Green®. To date, 350,000 trees planted by more than 41,000 children. These efforts are the start of the "Green Village" concept, where the villages with a conservation ethic will adopt solar cookers, solar lighting, permaculture, apiculture, and other green methods. For Earth Day, 4-H will spread the message that “every day is a good day to plant a tree” by engaging other nations across Africa, including Tanzania, Liberia, Ghana, and Namibia.

More and more people all over the world are helping Earth Day Network to Mobilize the Earth on April 22nd. Will you be the next to join the movement? For more information on how you can participate, visit www.earthday.org/2012.